KR20100051545A - Information processing system, information processing apparatus and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An information processing system, an information processing device and an information processing method are provided to use a web browser for displaying a web server and a operating screen provided by a web server, thereby improving convenience of a user authentication. CONSTITUTION: An authentication means(432) certifies a user. If a user is certified, a requesting means transmits authentication information to a web server(103) and requests an operating screen. The web server comprises a determination unit and transmission unit. If the operating unit is requested, the determination means determines the reception of the authentication information. It the reception of the authentication information is determined, the transmission means transmits a operating screen displayed on a web browser.

Description

Information processing system, information processing device and information processing method {INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a device having a web server and a web browser for displaying an operation screen provided by the web server.

An information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) can be connected with a web server on the network, so that an operation screen provided by the web server is displayed on the web browser of the information processing apparatus.

In this case, the web browser of the information processing apparatus requests an operation screen from the web server. The web application on the web server transmits an HTML file for displaying an operation screen on the web browser to the information processing apparatus in response to a request from the information processing apparatus. The web browser of the information processing apparatus analyzes the received HTML file and displays an operation screen based on the description of the received HTML file.

When a user inputs an instruction via the operation screen displayed on the web browser, the web browser notifies the instruction input to the web server. Upon receiving the notification, the web application on the web server executes the processing according to the inputted instructions.

In recent years, multi-function peripherals (MFPs) equipped with scanners and printers also have the above-described web browsers. The MFP displays the operation screen provided by the web server on the web browser of the MFP using the steps described above, and receives various instructions from the user.

There is also a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-127503. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-127503, the web server provides an operation screen on which an instruction for using various functions of the MFP is input. That is, the user of the MFP inputs an instruction to be issued to the MFP through the operation screen displayed on the web browser. The web browser of the MFP notifies the web server of the instruction entered.

The web server receiving the notification requests the MFP to execute various processes in accordance with the contents of the instructions input from the user. The MFP receiving the request performs the requested processing. This eliminates the need to store the entire menu data in the MFP for manipulating the MFP, and allows the user to easily change the menu data on the web server.

The information processing apparatus such as the PC or the MFP described above is provided with a function of authenticating a user who operates the information processing apparatus and permitting the user to use the information processing apparatus in accordance with the authentication result. When a user uses an information processing apparatus equipped with such a function, the user must first enter his or her own authentication information (for example, a user ID). The input authentication information is checked against the information registered in the information processing device in advance, and the user is permitted to use the information processing device based on the check result.

Some web servers described above have a function of authenticating a user who can use a web application in the web server. When an operation screen is required by the web browser of the information processing apparatus, such a web application first transmits screen information for displaying on the web browser an authentication screen for allowing a user to input authentication information. The web application executes the authentication process based on the authentication information input through the authentication screen displayed on the web browser, and according to this authentication result, the user is authorized to use the web application.

However, when accessing a web application having such authentication function through the web browser of the information processing apparatus having the above-described authentication function, user-friendliness may be degraded.

More specifically, the user must input not only authentication information used for authentication processing executed by the information processing apparatus, but also authentication information used for authentication processing executed by the web application. That is, when the web application having the authentication function is operated by the information processing device having the authentication function, authentication information should be input more than once, which is not user-friendly.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a system includes a device having a web server and a web browser configured to display an operation screen provided by the web server, the device comprising: authentication means configured to authenticate a user; And requesting means configured to request an operation screen by sending authentication information to the web server when the user is authenticated, wherein the web server determines whether the authentication information has been received when the operation screen is requested. Configured determination unit; And transmitting means configured to transmit, to the apparatus, an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser when the determining means determines that the authentication information has been received from the apparatus.

By providing the information processing system, the information processing apparatus, and the information processing method according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve an improvement in convenience of user authentication.

Further features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Various exemplary embodiments, features and aspects of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the MFP is described as an example of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention. The MFP performs an authentication process for authenticating a user. Thereafter, the MFP sends a user ID used for the authentication process to the web server and requests an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser of the MFP. The web application on the web server determines whether a user ID is received from the MFP. If the user ID has been received, the web application sends an operation screen to the MFP.

1 is an overall block diagram of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. The MFP 101, a light weight directory access protocol (LDAP) server 102 and a web server 103 are connected to the LAN 110 to communicate with each other. A file transfer protocol (FTP) server (not shown) is provided on the LAN 110 to enable FTP-transmission of image data from the MFP 101 to the FTP server.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the MFP 101.

The controller 210 including the CPU 211 controls the operation of the entire MFP 101. The CPU 211 reads a control program stored in the ROM 212 and executes various control processes such as read control and transmission control. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and the work area of the CPU 211. The HDD 214 stores image data, various programs, or various information tables to be described later.

The operation unit I / F 215 connects the operation unit 219 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 219 includes a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function and a keyboard (not shown). The MFP 101 has a web browser function described later. The web browser of the MFP 101 analyzes the HTML file received from the web server 103 and displays an operation screen on the operation unit 219 based on the description of the received HTML file.

The printer I / F 216 connects the printer 220 and the control unit 210. The image data to be printed by the printer 220 is transferred from the control unit 210 to the printer 220 via the printer I / F 216 and printed on the recording medium by the printer 220.

The scanner I / F 217 connects the scanner 221 and the control unit 210. The scanner 221 reads an image on a document to form image data, and inputs image data to the control unit 210 through the scanner I / F 217.

The network I / F 218 connects the control unit 210 (MFP 101) to the LAN 110. The network I / F 218 transmits image data or information to an external device (such as, for example, an LDAP server or web server 103) on the LAN 110, and various information from the external device on the LAN 110. Receive

3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the web server 103. The LDAP server 102 has a configuration similar to that of the web server 103.

The controller 310 including the CPU 311 controls the operation of the entire web server 103. The CPU 311 reads a control program stored in the ROM 312 and executes various control processes. The RAM 313 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and the work area of the CPU 311. The HDD 314 stores image data, various programs, or various information tables described later.

The network I / F 315 connects the control unit 310 (web server 103) to the LAN 110. Network I / F 315 communicates various information to / from other devices on LAN 110.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a software configuration of the entire information processing system. The functional unit shown in FIG. 4 is implemented by the CPU provided on the MFP 101, the LDAP server 102, and the web server 103 executing a control program.

The MFP 101 includes a login application 430, a web browser 440, a service provider 450, and a log recorder 460.

The login application 430 includes a screen display 431 and an authentication processor 432. The screen display unit 431 displays on the operation unit 219 an authentication screen for allowing a user to input authentication information used for authentication processing executed by the authentication processing unit 432. This authentication screen is not provided by the web server 103, but the login application 430 reads the information previously stored in the MFP 101 to display the authentication screen. In this way, the screen displayed based on the information previously stored in the MFP 101 is called a native screen.

When authentication information is input through the authentication screen displayed by the screen display unit 431, the authentication processing unit 432 performs a user authentication process using the input authentication information.

The LDAP server 102 includes an authentication information management unit 470 and an authentication information holding unit 480. The authentication information holding unit 480 (or the authentication information storing unit) stores in advance the authentication information corresponding to the user authorized to use the MFP 101. The authentication information management unit 470 manages authentication information stored in the authentication information holding unit 480.

The authentication processing unit 432 performs authentication processing by matching the authentication information input through the authentication screen displayed by the screen display unit 431 with the authentication information stored in the authentication information holding unit 480. The user is authorized to use the MFP 101 according to this check result.

The web browser 440 includes a communication unit 441, an analysis unit 442, and a screen display unit 443. The communication unit 441 communicates with the presentation unit 411 of the web application 410 according to the HTTP protocol. More specifically, the communication unit 441 may request from the web application 410 an operation screen displayed on the web browser, or give the web application 410 an instruction of a user input through the operation screen displayed on the web browser. Inform.

The analyzer 442 analyzes the HTML file received from the web application 410. This HTML file contains a description representing the contents of the operation screen to be displayed on the web browser.

The screen display 443 displays the operation screen on the operation unit 219 based on the result analyzed by the analysis unit 442. In this way, the screen displayed based on the information (HTML file) received from the web server 103 is called a web browser screen.

The web server 103 includes a web application 410 and a log recorder 420. The web application 410 includes a presentation unit 411 and a logic unit 412.

The presentation unit 411 communicates with the communication unit 441 and transmits an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser of the MFP 101 to the MFP 101 in response to a request from the MFP 101. The presentation unit 411 receives an input of a user input through an operation screen displayed on a web browser of the MFP 101.

The web application 410 receiving the user's instruction executes various processes in accordance with the contents of the instruction, and requests the MFP 101 to execute the process. More specifically, the web application 410 may execute the MFP (printing processing by the printer 220 of the MFP 101, reading processing by the scanner 221, or sending processing through the network I / F 218). 101).

When the web application 410 requests the MFP 101 to execute a process, the logic unit 412 communicates with the communication unit 451 of the service provider 450 included in the MFP 101. The processing result executed by the MFP 101 is recorded in the log recording unit 420. The log recording unit 420 also records the result of the authentication processing executed by the web server 103.

The service provider 450 includes a communication unit 451 and a job generation unit 452. The communication unit 451 receives a request to perform a process from the logic unit 412 of the web application 410. When the communication unit 451 is requested to execute a process from the web application 410, the job generating unit 452 generates and executes a job for executing the requested process. The result obtained by executing the job is recorded in the log recording unit 460. The log recording unit 460 also records the result of the authentication processing executed by the login application 430 and the communication history with the web server 103.

5 shows an operation screen displayed on a web browser of the MFP 101 by the MFP 101 performing a user authentication process and sending authentication information used for this authentication to the web server 103. Is a flow chart showing a series of operations required. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is implemented by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program. Steps S501 to S506 are processes executed by the login application 430, and steps S507 to S512 are processes executed by the web browser 440.

In step S501, the screen display unit 431 displays the authentication screen on the operation unit 219. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authentication screen displayed in step S501. The user enters a user ID and password through an authentication screen.

In step S502, the CPU 211 determines whether authentication information has been input by the user. More specifically, the CPU 211 determines whether the OK button 601 on the authentication screen shown in FIG. 6 is pressed. When the CPU 211 determines that the OK button 601 is pressed (YES in step S502), the processing proceeds to step S503. If authentication information has not been entered (NO in step S502), the process waits until authentication information is input.

In step S503, the authentication processing unit 432 performs authentication processing using the inputted user ID and password. The authentication processing unit 432 communicates with the LDAP server 102 and checks the input user ID and password with information previously stored in the authentication information holding unit 480.

If the user is correctly authenticated as a result of the authentication process (YES in step S504), the process proceeds to step S505. If the user has not been correctly authenticated (NO in step S504), the process ends. In step S505, a login context corresponding to the authenticated user is generated. The login context is information representing an authenticated user and includes a user ID input through the authentication screen illustrated in FIG. 6. In step S506, the web browser 440 is notified that user authentication has been correctly completed and the user has logged in (login event).

In step S507, the web browser 440 acquires the login context generated by the login application 430. In step S508, the user ID input by the user via the authentication screen shown in FIG. 6 is extracted from the obtained login context.

In step S509, a request is generated for the web server 103 to transmit the execution instruction screen which is requested to transmit the execution instruction screen. The execution instruction screen is one of operation screens displayed on the web browser of the MFP 101, and the user gives an instruction to execute a process via the execution instruction screen. The request to transmit the execution instruction screen includes the user ID extracted in step S508. In step S510, a request generated to transmit the execution instruction screen is sent to the web server 103.

In step S511 (has the execution instruction screen been received?), The CPU 211 determines whether the execution instruction screen has been sent from the web server 103 in response to the request to transmit the execution instruction screen transmitted in step S510. . In practice, the HTML file is transmitted from the web server 103 as screen information for displaying the execution instruction screen on the web browser.

When the execution instruction screen is received from the web server 103 (YES in S511), the processing proceeds to step S512. If the execution instruction screen is not received (NO in S511), the processing waits until the execution instruction screen is received. In step S512, an execution instruction screen is displayed according to the description of the received HTML file.

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an execution instruction screen displayed in step S512. 7 shows an example of a screen for instructing that an image on a document is read using the scanner 221 of the MFP 101 to generate image data, and indicating that the generated image data is sent to an FTP server on the LAN 110. Indicates. In the example shown in Fig. 7, image data is generated in PDF format, and a file name " test.pdf " is given.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a series of operations executed by the web server 103 when the MFP 101 executes the processing described in FIG. 5. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is implemented by the CPU 311 of the web server 103 executing a control program.

In step S801, the CPU 311 determines whether the web server 103 has received a request to transmit the execution instruction screen from the MFP 101. If the web server 103 is requested to transmit the execution instruction screen (YES in step S801), the processing proceeds to step S802. If the web server 103 is not asked to transmit the execution instruction screen (NO in step S801), the processing ends.

In step S802, the CPU 311 determines whether the web server 103 has received a user ID from the MFP 101. When the request to transmit the execution instruction screen includes the user ID, the CPU 311 determines that the web server 103 has received the user ID. If the request to transmit the execution instruction screen does not include the user ID, the CPU 311 determines that the web server 103 has not received the user ID.

If the web server 103 receives the user ID (YES in step S802), the process proceeds to step S803, and the web server 103 displays the HTML file used to display the execution instruction screen. Send to On the other hand, when the web server 103 has not received the user ID (NO in step S802), the process proceeds to step S804 to record log information indicating the occurrence of an error in the log recording unit 420, and the process ends. do.

9 is a flowchart for describing a series of operations executed by the MFP 101 after the execution instruction screen is displayed in step S512 of FIG. 5. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is implemented by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program. Steps S901 and S902 are processes to be executed by the web browser 440, and steps S903 to S911 are processes to be executed by the service provider 450.

In step S901, the CPU 211 determines whether the execution button 701 of the execution instruction screen shown in FIG. 7 is pressed. If the execution button 701 is pressed (YES in step S901), the process proceeds to step S902, and the web browser 440 sends the execution-instruction issuance notification to the web server 103 indicating that the execution instruction has been issued from the user. Send. At this time, various parameters (such as file name and image format) designated on the execution instruction screen shown in FIG. 7 are transmitted to the web server 103 together with the execution-instruction issuance notification. If the execute button is not pressed (NO in S901), the process waits until the execute button is pressed.

In step S903, the CPU 211 determines whether a process execution request has been received from the web server 103. If a process execution request is received (YES in S903), the process proceeds to step S904. If no process execution request is received (NO in S903), the process waits until the execution process request is received.

In step S904, the CPU 211 determines whether the process execution request received from the web server 103 includes a user ID. If the process execution request includes a user ID (YES in step S904), the process proceeds to step S905. If the process execution request does not include the user ID (NO in step S904), the process proceeds to step S910.

In step S905, the service provider 450 acquires the login context generated by the login application 430. In step S906, the user ID is extracted from the obtained login context.

In step S907, the CPU 211 checks the user ID included in the received processing execution request and the user ID extracted in step S906 to determine whether the user ID matches each other. As a result of the check, if the user IDs match with each other (YES in step S907), the processing proceeds to step S908. If the user IDs do not match with each other (NO in step S907), the processing proceeds to step S910.

In step S908, the processing is executed in accordance with the content requested by the web server 103. More specifically, the scanner 221 is controlled to execute read processing, and image data generated by the read processing is transmitted in accordance with the FTP protocol. In step S909 (transmission result of the execution process), the web server 103 is notified of the process execution result, and the process ends. After that, when the execution result display screen for notifying the user of the execution result of the processing is transmitted from the web server 103, the web browser 440 displays the execution result display screen.

In step S904, when the CPU 211 determines that no user ID is included (NO in S904), or in step S907, when the CPU 211 determines that the user IDs do not coincide with each other (step S907). NO in S907), and the error information indicating the occurrence of the error is recorded in the log recording unit 460 in step S910. In step S911 (control error transmission), the web server 103 is notified of the occurrence of the error. As described above, when the user IDs are not included or when the user IDs do not match with each other, no processing is executed so that instructions from servers other than the web server 103 are not executed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for describing a series of operations executed by the web server 103 when the MFP 101 executes the processing described in FIG. 9. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is implemented by the CPU 311 of the web server 103 executing a control program.

In step S1001, the CPU 311 determines whether a notification of execution-instruction issuance is received from the MFP 101. If a notification of execution-instruction issuance has been received (YES in step S1001), the processing proceeds to step S1002. If the notification of the execution-instruction is not received (NO in step S1001), the processing proceeds to step S1004.

In step S1002, a process execution request is generated for the MFP 101 in accordance with the contents of the instruction from the user included in the notification of the execution-instruction issuance. The process execution request includes the user ID received as a request to transmit the execution instruction screen in step S801. In step S1003, the generated processing execution request is sent to the MFP 101.

In step S1004, the CPU 311 determines whether a result of processing execution has been received from the MFP 101. If the processing execution result is received (YES in step S1004), the processing proceeds to step S1005. If the processing execution result is not received (NO in step S1004), the processing proceeds to step S1006. In step S1005, the execution result display screen is sent to the MFP 101.

11 shows an example of an execution result display screen displayed by the web browser of the MFP 101. The execution result display screen displays information indicating the result of the processing executed by the MFP 101.

In step S1006, the CPU 311 determines whether a matching error has been received from the MFP 101. If a matching error is received (YES in step S1006), the processing proceeds to step S1007. If no matching error is received (NO in step S1006), the processing ends. In step S1007, error information indicating the occurrence of an error is recorded in the log recording unit 420. FIG.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the authentication information (user ID) used in the authentication process of the login application 430 is sent to the web server 103 and displayed on the web browser of the MFP 101. Ask for the screen. When the web server 103 receives a request for the operation screen from the MFP 101, the web server 103 determines whether a user ID has been received. When the web server 103 receives the user ID, the web server 103 determines whether the MFP 101 has correctly performed the authentication process, and transmits the requested operation screen to the MFP 101. On the other hand, when the web server 103 does not receive a user ID, the web server 103 determines that the MFP 101 did not correctly perform the authentication process, and does not transmit the requested operation screen to the MFP 101. .

Thereby, the user does not need to input authentication information twice or more, and the use of the web server 103 by the user who was not normally authenticated by the MFP 101 is restricted.

In this example, the user ID input on the authentication screen shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted as information indicating that the user is authenticated by the MFP 101, but the information indicates that the user is normally authenticated by the MFP 101. As far as indicated, information other than the user ID may be transmitted.

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, for each of the configurations described in the first embodiment, a case of adding a configuration for determining whether a user ID should be transmitted when the MFP 101 requests an operation screen from the web server 103 will be described. .

12 shows a series of operations in which the MFP 101 performs a user authentication process and sends authentication information used for this authentication to the web server 103 to request an operation screen displayed on the web browser of the MFP 101. This is a flow chart illustrating. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is implemented by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program. In steps S501 to S508 and S510 to S512, similar processing to those in the steps shown in the flowchart of Fig. 5 is performed, so that description thereof is omitted here.

In step S1201, when the web browser 440 requests the operation screen from the web server 103, the CPU 211 determines whether the user ID should be transmitted. In making the determination, the user ID transmission list shown in Fig. 13 is referred to.

13 shows a user ID transmission list. The user ID transmission list manages information indicating a request destination to which a user ID should be transmitted when the web browser 440 requests an operation screen. The user ID transmission list manages URL information.

In the determination of step S1201, the URL of the request destination (that is, the communication counterpart that the web browser 440 accesses) for which the operation screen is requested is compared with the URL of the user ID transmission list. When the URLs match with each other, when the web browser 440 requests the operation screen, the CPU 211 determines whether the user ID should be transmitted. On the other hand, when the URLs do not match each other (that is, when the web browser 440 makes a request for a request destination other than the request destination corresponding to the URL included in the list), the CPU 211 does not transmit the user ID. Determine that it should not be.

As the determination result of step S1201, when the CPU 211 determines that the user ID should be transmitted (YES in step S1201), the processing proceeds to step S1202 through steps S507 and S508. In this case, a process similar to that in step S509 of FIG. 5 is performed in step S1202.

On the other hand, when the CPU 211 determines that the user ID should not be transmitted as a result of the determination in step S1201 (NO in step S1201), the processing proceeds to step S1202 without passing through steps S507 and S508. . In this case, in step S1202, a request is made to transmit the execution instruction screen not including the user ID.

Hereinafter, the case in which the user ID should not be transmitted will be described in more detail.

For example, if the use of the web server is not restricted to specific users, then the user ID should not be sent. That is, the web server that restricts the use of the web server to a specific user performs the processing described in Fig. 8 to permit the user to use the web server when the user is authenticated by the MFP 101.

However, when the MFP 101 requests an operation screen from a web server that does not originally limit the use of the web server to a specific user, the web server transmits the operation screen without determining whether a user ID is received. For this reason, in this case, the MFP 101 does not transmit the user ID. When the MFP 101 does not transmit the user ID, the web browser 440 of the MFP 101 can omit the process of obtaining the login context and extracting the user ID from the login context.

As another example in which the user ID should not be transmitted, there may be a case where the use of the web server is restricted to a specific user, whereby the user is authenticated by the authentication process performed by the web server itself to use the web server. .

In this case, even if the user is authenticated once by the MFP 101, the user is required to re-enter the authentication information on the authentication screen provided by the web server. The use of the web server is not authorized until the user is authenticated based on the authentication information entered here. Therefore, even if the MFP 101 transmits the user ID, the authentication information must be input again on the authentication screen sent from the web server. In this case, the trouble of the user entering the authentication information cannot be reduced, and in this case, it is determined that the user ID should not be transmitted.

As described above, in the second embodiment, when the web browser 440 of the MFP 101 requests the operation screen from the web server 103, a determination is made as to whether a user ID should be transmitted. If it is determined that the user ID should not be sent, the user ID is not sent to the web server 103. Therefore, when the user ID should not be transmitted, the process for transmitting the user ID can be omitted.

Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, an example has been described in which a determination is made as to whether a user ID should be transmitted based on a request destination for which an operation screen is requested. If it is determined that the user ID does not need to be transmitted, the user ID is not transmitted. On the other hand, in the third embodiment, an example in which the user ID is not transmitted when the user logs in to the MFP 101 without being authenticated by the login application 430 is described.

Fig. 14 is a series in which the MFP 101 performs user authentication processing and sends authentication information used for this authentication to the web server 103, requesting an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser of the FMP 101. Is a flowchart describing the operation of. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14 is implemented by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program. The processing in steps S501 to S508, S510, and S512 is similar to the steps shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and therefore description thereof is omitted here.

In step S1401, the CPU 211 determines whether the user is instructed to log in as a guest user. The term "guest user" is used when a user is logged in to use the MFP when the user's authentication information is not registered in advance in the authentication information holding unit 480. In this case, the guest user uses the MFP 101 to limit the available functions compared to the registered user.

If the user is instructed to log in as a guest user (YES in step S1401), the processing proceeds to step S506. If the user is not instructed to log in as a guest user (NO in step S1401), the processing proceeds to step S502.

In step S1402, the CPU 211 determines whether the user logs in as a guest user. If the user logs in as a guest user (YES in step S1402), the processing proceeds to step S1403. If the user has not logged in as a guest user (NO in step S1402) (that is, the user logs in via the authentication process in step S503), the process proceeds to step S507.

When the processing advances to step S1403 through steps S507 and S508, in step S1403, a process similar to step S509 in FIG. 5 is performed.

If the process proceeds to step S1403 without passing through steps S507 and S508, in step S1403, a request is generated to transmit an execution instruction screen not including the user ID.

In step S1404, the CPU 211 determines whether the execution instruction screen is received from the web server 103. If the CPU 211 determines that the execution instruction screen has not been received (NO in step S1404), the processing proceeds to step S1405.

In step S1405, the CPU 211 determines whether an authentication screen has been received from the web server 103. When the authentication screen is received from the web server 103 (YES in step S1405), the processing proceeds to step S1406. If the authentication screen is not received from the web server 103 (NO in step S1405), the process returns to the determination process of step S1404.

In step S1406, the authentication screen is displayed based on the HTML file received from the web server 103. The authentication screen displayed here is similar to the authentication screen shown in FIG. 6, but differs from the authentication screen shown in FIG. 6 in that the web browser 440 displays the authentication screen based on the HTML file provided by the web server.

In step S1407, the user determines whether authentication information has been input via the authentication screen displayed in step S1406. If authentication information is input (YES in step S1407), the process proceeds to step S1408 to transmit the input authentication information to the web server 103. Thereafter, the process returns to step S1404. If authentication information is not input (NO in step S1407), the process waits until authentication information is input.

The authentication information to be entered into the authentication screen displayed in step S1406 refers to information used for the authentication processing executed by the web application 410 in the web server 103. Therefore, the authentication information may be different from the information to be input in the authentication screen (of FIG. 6) in which information used for the authentication process executed by the login application 430 is input.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing a series of operations executed by the web server 103 when the MFP 101 executes the processing described in FIG. 14. Each operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 is implemented by the CPU 311 of the web server 103 executing a control program. Since the processing of steps S801 to S803 is similar to the steps shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, the description thereof is omitted here.

In step S1501, an authentication screen to which authentication information used for authentication processing executed by the web application 410 is input is sent to the MFP 101.

In step S1502, the CPU 311 determines whether authentication information has been received from the MFP 101. If authentication information has been received (YES in step 1502), the processing proceeds to step S1503. If the authentication information is not received (NO in step S1502), the process waits until the authentication information is received.

In step S1503, an authentication process for authenticating the user using the received authentication information is executed. In step S1504, the CPU 311 determines whether authentication has been correctly performed. If authentication is correctly performed (or if the user is authenticated) (YES in step S1504), the processing proceeds to step S803. If authentication is not performed correctly (NO in step S1504), the processing proceeds to step S1505.

In step S1505, the MFP 101 is notified of the occurrence of the authentication error. The occurrence of the authentication error may be recorded in the log recording unit 420.

As described above, in the third embodiment, it is determined whether to transmit the user ID according to whether the user logs in or the user logs in as a guest user through the authentication process by the login application 430. Accordingly, even if the user's authentication information is not recorded in the authentication information holding unit 480, the user can use the web application 410 if the user is authenticated by the web application 410.

In the above-described first to third embodiments, an example in which the external LDAP server 102 is used for authentication processing of the login application 430 has been described. However, the functionality provided by LDAP server 102 may be provided within MFP 101.

In the above-described first to third embodiments, an example has been described in which the web browser 440 transmits a request to transmit an execution instruction screen including a user ID. However, the user ID may be transmitted by other methods. For example, the login application 430 may send the user ID to a web application within the web server instead of the web browser 440.

In addition, aspects of the invention may be implemented by a computer system or computer apparatus (or device such as a CPU or MPU) that reads and executes a program recorded on a memory device to perform the functions of the above-described embodiment (s). And may be implemented by a method having steps performed by a computer system or computer device to perform the functions of the above-described embodiment (s), for example, by reading and executing a program recorded on a memory device. For this purpose, a program is provided to a computer from various types of recording media, for example, via a network or serving as a memory device (eg, a computer readable medium).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

1 is an overall block diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an MFP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a web server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of an MFP in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view showing an authentication screen displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view showing an operation screen displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a web server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an MFP in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a web server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a view showing an operation screen displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an MFP in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

13 illustrates a user ID transmission list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

14 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an MFP in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a web server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

102: LDAP server

103: web server

410: web application

411 Presentation Section

412: logic section

420: log register

430: login application

431 screen display

432: authentication processing unit

441: communication unit

442: analysis unit

443: screen display

440: web browser

451: communication unit

452: job generator

450: service provider

460: log register

470: authentication information management unit

480: authentication information holding unit

Claims (17)

A system comprising a web server and a device having a web browser configured to display an operation screen provided by the web server, The apparatus comprises: Authentication means configured to authenticate a user; And Requesting means configured to send authentication information to the web server and request an operation screen when the user is authenticated, The web server, Determination unit configured to determine whether the authentication information has been received when the operation screen is required; And And transmitting means configured to transmit, to the apparatus, an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser when the determining means determines that the authentication information has been received from the apparatus. The method of claim 1, Wherein the authentication information is a user ID. The method of claim 1, The web server further comprises recording means configured to record error information, And when the determining means determines that the authentication information has not been received from the apparatus, the transmitting means does not transmit the operation screen, and the recording means records the error information. The method of claim 1, The apparatus further comprises a judging unit configured to determine if the authentication information should be transmitted if the requesting means requires. The method of claim 4, wherein The requesting means requests by sending the authentication information to the web server when the determining means determines that the authentication information should be transmitted, and when the determining means determines that the authentication information should not be transmitted, the authentication. Requesting information without sending it to the web server. The method of claim 5, And the determining means makes the determination based on the request destination. The method of claim 6, The apparatus further comprises holding means configured to store information indicating a requesting destination at which the requesting means transmits the authentication information, The judging means judges that the authentication information should be transmitted when the requesting means requests to the request destination indicated in the information stored in the holding means, and the requesting means is other than the request destination indicated in the information stored in the holding means. And determine that the authentication information should not be sent when requesting from the requesting party. The method of claim 1, If the user is not authenticated, the requesting means requests without transmitting the authentication information. The method of claim 8, When the determining means determines that the authentication information has not been received from the apparatus, the transmitting means, instead of the requested operation screen, an authentication screen for the user to input information used for authentication processing executed in the web server. To the device. The method of claim 1, The apparatus includes processing means configured to execute a process requested by the web server in accordance with an instruction input through an operation screen received from the web server. An apparatus having a web browser connected to a web server and configured to display an operation screen provided by the web server, Authentication means configured to authenticate a user; And Requesting means configured to send authentication information to the web server when the user is authenticated to request an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser Including, the device. The method of claim 11, Judging means configured to judge whether the authentication information should be transmitted, if the requesting means requires, The requesting means requests by sending the authentication information to the web server when the determining means determines that the authentication information should be transmitted, and when the determining means determines that the authentication information should not be transmitted, the authentication. Requesting information without sending it to the web server. The method of claim 12, And the determining means judges based on the request destination for which the requesting means requests the operation screen. The method of claim 13, And holding means configured to store information indicating a request destination for which the requesting means should transmit the authentication information. The method of claim 14, The judging means judges that the authentication information should be transmitted when the requesting means requests to the request destination indicated in the information stored in the holding means, and the requesting means is other than the request destination indicated in the information stored in the holding means. And request that the authentication information be not sent. An information processing method in a system comprising a web server and a device having a web browser configured to display an operation screen provided by the web server, Authenticating a user; If the user is authenticated, requesting an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser by sending authentication information to the web server; If the operation screen is requested from the device, determining whether the authentication information has been received; And If it is determined that the authentication information has been received from the device, transmitting the operation screen to the device. Including, the information processing method. An information processing method in a device having a web browser connected to a web server and configured to display an operation screen provided by the web server, Authenticating a user; And Requesting an operation screen to be displayed on the web browser by transmitting authentication information to the web server when the user is authenticated Including, the information processing method.

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